Education

County winners have been announced for the Brunswick Soil & Water Conservation District’s annual poster and essay contest for 2011. This year’s topic was: Water: The Cycle of Life. These contests encourage local students to develop lifelong natural resource stewardship principles while gaining the experience of competition among their peers.

“Resourceful” is a popular word at The Roger Bacon Academy’s Charter Day School. Even though they are public schools, charter schools receive less money per pupil than traditional public schools, but this has not stopped growth at one of the premier charter schools in southeast North Carolina, and technology is at the center of that growth.

“Technology plays a tremendous role in today’s classrooms,” said Superintendent Mark Cramer, “and while it does not replace great teachers, it is an invaluable tool for learning.”

Recently, Keidy Allende, a third-grader at Union Elementary, decided to cut her hair. What is a mundane experience for most was going to be eventful for her, as her hair was nearly 2-feet long. When hearing in class about the nonprofit organization, Locks of Love, she immediately decided she would like to participate.

Michael Shawn Longfellow of Leland was among 648 students who completed their studies during the fall session of 2010 at Western Carolina University. A total of 162 undergraduate students received academic honors, with 35 graduating summa cum laude (with highest honors), 48 graduating magna cum laude (with high honors), and 79 graduating cum laude (with honors).

On the heels of the Cedar Grove boys’ basketball team’s success, the Cedar Grove Middle School Battle of the Books team recently brought home the Brunswick County title. Led by media coordinator Laura DeStefano, the team was able to pull ahead of four other schools in the county.

The Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in Brunswick County are once again hosting a fundraising event to raise money for CIS on Tuesday, April 5. From 4-8:30 p.m., participating KFCs in Leland, Shallotte and Southport will donate 10 percent of sales plus any donations to CIS.

Pit crews, qualifying races and big trophies for the winners. No, it’s not stock car racing, it’s FASTAR, an academic competition for students at The Roger Bacon Academy.

Each year, nearly 200 charter school student-racers and their crew chiefs (parents) accept the challenge of tuning their reading and math skills, qualifying for the big race event and competing for trophies and gold medals while their classmates cheer them on to the finish line.

Brunswick County Schools are proud to be the home of the top two North Carolina social studies teachers.

The North Carolina Council for the Social Studies (NCCSS) announced the selection of Laura Hunter of South Brunswick High School as Outstanding High School Social Studies Teacher of the Year and Margaret Arrowood of Shallotte Middle School as Outstanding Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year.

“Both of these awards coming to one county is remarkable,” said Superintendent Edward Pruden, when he learned of the honors.